‘Agent X’ Review: Sharon Stone Spy Drama Is Almost Goofy Enough to Be Good

Rare is the action series that seeks to answer a genuinely good question. For instance, why does the Vice President seem to have no real job? TNT’s new action drama “Agent X” offers one possible answer: The VP’s real job is to do the government’s dirtiest work in secret so that the president can enjoy some plausible deniability.

It’s a clever idea, but as if desperately in need of a sort of viewer insurance policy, “Agent X” is structured a bit like your average case-of-the-week serial, replete with long shoot-out scenes, hostage scenarios and some flirty repartee between two hot assassins trying to kill each other. The show doesn’t cover new ground, but it gets a passing grade for being competent within the overly familiar territory of the spy genre.

Sharon Stone stars as the newly-elected Vice President Natalie Maccabee, all Kate Gosselin hair and Meredith Viera wardrobe as she retires to her vice presidential home on the night of her inauguration. Only then does she learn that all that weird Freemason stuff on the History Channel is real and she’s in charge of handling the decision-making that’s too unsavory for public consumption.

It’s not the FBI or the CIA but the VP who decides if a kidnapped senator’s daughter is worth saving, who makes the call to dispatch that network of international criminals (who are in the first episode Russians, obvs). She’s reviewing security footage from a secret Batcave in the basement of her house. Maccabee is introduced to her new duties by her seemingly omniscient butler named Malcolm, the Alfred to her Bruce Wayne, as played by Gerald McRaney.

Then there’s Agent X himself, whose governmental role was written into a secret part of the constitution that only the Vice President and a few others are privy to: “An agent of unknown identity is hereby authorized to serve at the discretion of the Vice President for the purpose of aiding the republic at times of dire peril,” reads VP Maccabee in some stodgy exposition.

As Agent X, Jeff Hephner plays the James Bond wannabe with as much charm as one could muster for such a by-the-numbers role. Fellow assassin and Russian contortionist Olga Petrovka (Olga Fonda) remarks that he’s not like all the other secret agents she knows. He’s different. He has heart. Just like the hero in nearly every other spy drama ever.

But with enough of the familiar genre trappings to make us comfortable, “Agent X” isn’t the dull affair it could be. With a few injections of much-needed humor, nimble hand-to-hand combat scenes (including one delightful nail-biter of a scene in which two spies square off while balancing on scaffolding pipes), and a few clever plot twists, the show isn’t lazy. It’s like a tasty frozen pizza: decent for what it is.

“Agent X” premieres Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on TNT.

Daniel Craig Turns 50: 007 Times He Sounded Sick of Playing James Bond (Photos)

Daniel Craig turns 50 on Friday. The actor is signed on for his fifth Bond movie in 2019, but is he happy about it? Let's look at his past statements.

Nov. 9, 2012 - "I've been trying to get out of this from the very moment I got into it."

Craig told Rolling Stone he was reluctant to do another Bond movie after "Skyfall." But he said he was under contract to do two more.

Craig added in that Rolling Stone interview that if the business for "Skyfall" wasn't great, the studio might set him free.

MGM

Oct. 7, 2015 - "I'd rather break this glass and slash my wrists."

The quote above is from a Time Out London interview, in response to whether he could imagine doing another Bond movie. He also said if he did, it would only be for the money.

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Oct. 7, 2015 - "Look, I don't give a f---."

Craig said he isn't interested in who plays Bond next and won't be "backseat driving" on set. He told Time Out London his only advice is this: "Don’t be s---. You’ve got to step up. People do not make movies like this any more. This is really rare now. So don’t be s---."

MGM

Oct. 7, 2015 - "It's a drag."

Craig told Time Out that playing Bond was "a drag" because "the best acting is when you're not concerned about the surface. And Bond is the opposite of that."

Oct. 23, 2015 - "Let's not forget that he's actually a misogynist."

Shortly after that infamous Time Out interview, Craig gave a less-publicized interview to The Red Bulletin, calling his character misogynist. “A lot of women are drawn to him chiefly because he embodies a certain kind of danger and never sticks around for too long.”

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Oct. 23, 2015 - "Let’s not talk these films up as some kind of life-changing experience."

When The Red Bulletin asked him what audiences could learn from the Bond movies, Craig said, "Nothing... Bond is what Bond does. Bond is very single- minded. He takes his own course. And that’s simple, which is great."

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Nov. 5, 2015 - Craig clarifies his past comments

Craig clarified his "slash my wrists" statement on "Today." "If you’re 200 hundred yards from the end of a marathon and someone comes running up to you and says, ‘Are you gonna run another marathon?' there’s two words you use. And not on a morning show!”

Oct. 10 2016 - “There is no other job like it… if I were to stop doing it, I would miss it terribly.”

In 2016, Craig said at the New Yorker Festival, “There is no other job like it…if I were to stop doing it, I would miss it terribly.”

Shortly after it was finally reported that Craig would be returning as Bond, he spent multiple interviews being "cagey" about whether it was true, but then finally confirmed the news to Stephen Colbert on "The Late Show." When Colbert pressed him about his previous comments, namely wanting to "slash my wrists," Craig replied, “Instead of saying something with style and grace, I said something really stupid.”

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He’ll play Bond for a fifth time, but is he happy about it?

Daniel Craig turns 50 on Friday. The actor is signed on for his fifth Bond movie in 2019, but is he happy about it? Let's look at his past statements.